Quarterback Lion: A Paranormal Shapeshifter Romance Read online

  Quarterback Lion

  A PARANORMAL SHAPESHIFTER ROMANCE

  LILLY PINK

  Copyright ©2017 by Lilly Pink

  All rights reserved.

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  About This Book

  NFL Quarterback Greg Wilds had it all. The money. The fame. The women.

  But beneath that handsome grin was worry.

  This was because Greg Wilds was actually a shapeshifting WereLion. And he was a Lion who wanted nothing more than to leave the human world and rejoin his family’s pride.

  However, to do this Greg needed to find his fated mate. Something that seemed impossible in a world full of superficial women.

  But just when Greg was about to give up all hope of ever finding her. There she was, in the last place he ever expected….

  This is a Paranormal Shapeshifter romance full of thrills, spills and hot adult scenes. Only read this if you are interested in having a WILD time!

  CHAPTER ONE

  CHAPTER TWO

  CHAPTER THREE

  CHAPTER FOUR

  CHAPTER FIVE

  CHAPTER SIX

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  CHAPTER NINE

  CHAPTER TEN

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  CHAPTER ONE

  Greg’s teammates took turns slapping him on the shoulder in congratulations when they made it to the locker room. They had just beaten the Green Bay Packers and were now only one game away from the Super Bowl. Greg had made an insane touchdown in the last forty-five seconds of the game that landed them the win.

  Considering he was on the defense, this was a pretty big deal. When he intercepted the ball after it had been thrown by the Packers’ quarterback, he just took off running and no one could catch up with him. Before he knew it, he’d made a touchdown, and the crowd went wild.

  “Damn, Greg! Who knew a big guy like you could move so fast? You have to come out with us tonight to celebrate. Drinks are on me,” Stan said while he got ready to hit the showers. Stan was the captain and Greg’s closest friend on the team.

  “Thanks, man. Not sure about going out tonight, though. I’ve got a family thing to take care of, and once my mom gets her hands on me it can sometimes take days before I am able to get free again.”

  They both laughed. Stan had heard enough stories about Greg’s mother to know that he was telling the truth. Anytime his mother got him to go home for a visit, she made sure to squeeze as much time out of him as she could.

  What Stan didn’t know is what the “family thing” is that Greg has to deal with because that would require telling Stan his secret. Greg couldn’t tell any human about his true identity. One of the things that made him such a great running back, giving him his incredible speed and strength, is the fact that he is a lion.

  Greg’s family were all lion-shifters and that came with certain capabilities and expectations, especially for Greg. His lion pride had called for him to step up and lead his pride. Up until now, Greg was living a pretty sweet life doing what he loved, playing football. He was the number one running back in the NFL and was dreading the fact that his future as the leader of his pride was about to take him away from the NFL and the human world altogether.

  Greg’s pride is calling for him to take a mate, which means leaving the life he knows now and returning to his pride permanently. It is a custom among his kind for males to return to the pride lands to choose their mate and start building a family to ensure their bloodline’s continued prosperity. Once the male reaches the age of twenty-five, they are expected to give up any outside life they have established amongst normal human society to fulfill this duty.

  Greg is now twenty-eight, and his pride needs him to return. The last time he spoke with his mother and the rest of the pride, he was given six months to find a mate and step up as the leader he was born to be. Greg was down to the final three months, and if he did not choose a mate on his own within the next three months, he would be forced to mate Sasha, a female from a nearby pride who has been itching for Greg’s attention since they were just teenagers. It wasn’t for lack of effort on his part, but so far Greg had zero luck finding his mate. The more time that went by, the more he’d become sure he wasn’t going to find a mate before the deadline. Down to only three months, Greg felt that even if he did find a female to mate, he would be hard pressed to convince her to do so before the deadline.

  So he was trying to get his mother on his side to help him convince the pride that he needed more time to find someone himself. For Greg, having to give up football was upsetting, to say the least, but he absolutely couldn’t accept the possibility of being forced to mate someone he didn’t love.

  Greg got cleaned up and prepared himself to meet up with his mother. She was the head female in their pride, and if he could get her on his side, then there was a good chance that he would be able to convince the rest of them that he deserved more time to find a mate he could love since he’d be spending the rest of his long life with them.

  Greg and Stan left the stadium together and, as expected, there was a swarm of fans waiting outside hoping to catch a glimpse of their favorite players and praying to get lucky enough to get their signatures. They always stopped to speak to the fans, take a few photos, and sign a few autographs on their way out.

  Greg and Stan were in agreement that the fans were the only reason they were able to turn a game they loved into a career, so they made sure to show them their appreciation whenever they could. As soon as they had walked outside Greg smelled her scent. Greg immediately looked in that direction and his eyes landed on the most beautiful woman he had ever seen. She was wearing a loose-fitting t-shirt and jeans, but they did nothing to hide the sexy curves beneath.

  She was tall for a woman, about 5′8″ he would guess; it was a good thing Greg was 6′5″ himself. Her shoulder length hair was strawberry blonde and wavy. She wore no makeup, and that just made her more attractive to him. Her intense hazel eyes completed the deal as they drew him to her.

  He turned and headed straight for her, ignoring all of the fans who were calling his name and yelling at him to take pictures or “sign this” along the way. As he got closer, Greg noticed a young boy in a wheelchair beside her. Thanks to his enhanced hearing, Greg heard the boy when he excitedly said, “Greg Wilds is walking over here!”

  He also didn’t miss the way the woman rolled her eyes after the boy turned away from him. Greg wondered if it was the boy himself she had rolled her eyes about, or if she just wasn’t his biggest fan. It didn’t matter either way because Greg was going to do everything in his power to make sure she agreed to be his.

  Olivia

  Olivia was trying to hide her complete disinterest in the players who’d just come from the stad
ium and made their way over to the crowd so that Jimmy wouldn’t notice. She didn’t want to upset him or leave him thinking that she had somehow been forced into something she hated. True, she hated football and all professional sports for that matter, but Jimmy loved football, so she was trying to put on a smile for his benefit.

  Still, she hadn’t been able to resist the urge to roll her eyes when Jimmy pointed out that Greg Wilds, who was apparently the best player ever, was coming over to them.

  She was sure this guy had just spotted a kid in a wheelchair and saw a PR opportunity if he could get photographed giving the cripple kid some attention. From what she could tell in the news, football players were notoriously cocky and self-centered, so using Jimmy as an opportunity would fulfill this guy’s need for attention.

  “Hi, I’m Greg Wilds,” the man said.

  The player that had made his way straight for her and Jimmy was standing directly in front of Olivia, and when he introduced himself to them, his smile nearly made her forget the tirade she had just been running through in her head. He was tall and muscular with thick golden blonde hair and chocolate brown eyes. His face was chiseled perfection, but there was a kindness in his eyes that surprised her.

  “It’s really nice to meet you, ” said Greg as he stepped even closer to her.

  He was so close that Olivia could smell him now, and his scent was intoxicating. She didn’t think it was cologne because it didn’t smell like anything artificial. She figured if sunlight had a smell, then that would be what Greg smelled like.

  Shaking off her thoughts about how wonderful he smelled, Olivia turned her head to Jimmy and introduced him to Greg. “This is Jimmy Coleman. He’s a big fan of yours, and we’d appreciate it if you wouldn’t mind allowing me to take a photo of you with him, and maybe he could get your autograph too, if it isn’t too much trouble.”

  Greg continued staring at her for a few more seconds, and she could have sworn she had heard him take a deep breath almost like he was sniffing her. No, she told herself, he’s probably just got a cold or something.

  “You’re Greg Wilds! You are the best running back the Cowboys have ever seen! I read somewhere that teams will be fighting to steal you for themselves next year because no other player in the league holds a candle to your talent.” Jimmy was rambling on about Greg in total fan boy fashion.

  Olivia couldn’t stop herself from smiling at his eagerness. She might not agree with Jimmy’s taste in entertainment, but at least he knew what he was talking about and was passionate about it.

  Greg had chuckled before he answered Jimmy. “Yeah, son, I’m Greg Wilds. I don’t know about all of that other stuff you said there, but thank you. It means a lot that you are my fan. You know I have this great idea, Jimmy, and I hope you can help me convince your friend here to play along.” Greg flashed his bright smile at Jimmy, and Olivia crossed her arms preparing for something ridiculous. “See I was going to have to eat dinner alone tonight and I really hate eating alone, so I thought you guys could join me. What do you say? Nothing too fancy, just dinner at my house while we hang out?”

  “OH MY GOD! Olivia, we have to go! Please, please, please.” Jimmy was giving Olivia his best pleading look and tugging at her hand emphasizing every “please” he uttered. Olivia had brought Jimmy here to satisfy one of his greatest wishes before he was confined to the hospital again to undergo another round of chemo treatments.

  There was no way she could be the bad guy who told him they were not going to hang out with his favorite player for a couple of hours after he had personally invited them over to his home.

  “Yeah, Jimmy, we can go. Could you give me a chance to get my car so we can follow you to where ever we’re going?” she asked Greg.

  “No, I’ll drive you,” Greg said, looking at her. She didn’t miss the fact that he’d said that as a statement instead of asking her if she’d rather just ride with him. For some reason, she kind of liked the way he stepped up and took charge and she wasn’t sure why.

  Surely he was just being cocky, but she couldn’t help it. Considering the fact that he was hot as hell, like sex on wheels, she wasn’t too upset about spending time up close to him in his vehicle. If she were completely honest with herself, she knew that her attraction to him played a big role in how fast she agreed to this absurd request Greg made about dinner in the first place.

  She could almost swear his scent was getting stronger the longer he stood there talking to them, and it was like it was permeating her brain and sending her common sense right out the window.

  “Mr. Wilds, it isn’t a problem for me to drive. You don’t need to put yourself out any more than you already are offering us dinner. Plus, I drive an SUV large enough to make getting Jimmy’s chair in and out easy.”

  Greg cut her off before she could say anything else. “No, it isn’t a problem. I want to drive you, and I’m sure Jimmy’s chair will fit just fine in my Yukon.” He took her hand and went on, “And it’s Greg. Only strangers refer to me at Mr. Wilds, and I don’t plan for us to remain strangers for long, Olivia. I hope we get to know each other very well.”

  When Greg lifted her hand and kissed it, Olivia felt it all the way to her core as if he had kissed her in her most intimate area. Involuntarily, her eyes closed and she moaned as the sensation sent sparks throughout her body.

  When she heard Jimmy laugh she came back to her senses, and her eyes flew open in embarrassment. Had she really just moaned out loud in front of Jimmy? In front of this strange man who seemed to make her body take over her mind’s sensibility and toss it right out the window. She knew her face was red from her embarrassment because she could feel the heat radiating from her cheeks. Greg was smiling at her like he knew exactly what had just happened to her body with his innocent kiss and he was happy about it. Great, just great.

  Olivia glared at Jimmy who was still snickering under his breath at her. When Greg laced his fingers with hers she was surprised. It was a rather intimate gesture which she definitely hadn’t expected. Even if he thought his football star status and his invitation to dinner meant he was going to get lucky, she wouldn’t have expected him to hold her hand and show her such affection. There was a difference in the affection you showed someone that you actually cared about versus someone you just wanted to sleep with, and Greg’s behavior leaned more towards the former.

  Greg did release her hand after a moment only to grab the handles of Jimmy’s chair so he could push Jimmy to his vehicle. He helped Jimmy into the back seat and Olivia made sure he was comfortable while Greg put the wheelchair in the back.

  When she walked around to get in on the passenger’s side, Greg was there in the blink of an eye, and he opened the door and held out his hand to help her get. He kissed her knuckles once more and when her heartbeat began racing almost immediately, Greg winked at her like he knew exactly what he was doing to her before he shut the door and went around to get into the driver’s seat.

  After he had pulled out of the parking lot onto the road, Greg reached across the console and took her hand, lacing their fingers together once again. When she looked over, he flashed her a quick smile, and her heart was off to the races once again. She could also swear that his scent had gotten stronger again.

  It made her feel like she was surrounded by sunlight and the forest. It was very manly and incredibly intoxicating like pure pheromones, and it was almost like his smell was her own personal aphrodisiac. She was trying to remind herself that he was a stranger, and not only that but he was a big-headed football player.

  However, he hadn’t done anything remotely selfish or annoying yet. And every time he gave her that sexy smile or touched her, she found it harder and harder to remember why she shouldn’t like him.

  CHAPTER TWO

  Greg

  Olivia and Jimmy seemed to enjoy dinner, and Greg hoped that Olivia’s compliments on his cooking meant he was making some positive head-way. Greg knew that Olivia might not be feeling the immediate connection to him
that he felt toward her. As a shifter, his instincts were far stronger than that of a human. He had to find a way to make her his as soon as possible, but it would have to be her choice. There was no doubt in his mind that she was his intended mate, but convincing Olivia might not be as easy. So far he had gotten the distinct impression that she did not like him for some reason.

  “Well, I am sure you have a party to get to or something after the big win tonight. Jimmy, please tell Mr. Wilds thanks for dinner so we can be on our way.”

  Greg didn’t like the sound of that. He was certainly not ready for them to leave yet, but he did have plans to meet with his mother in a little while. Although he was hoping he wouldn’t need her help anymore and decided it would be best to spend as much time with Olivia now as possible.

  If he were truly being honest with himself, he knew that his mother was not likely to offer her support of him waiting any longer to take a mate. She had been the one pushing him the hardest over the last few years, after all.

  “Actually, I am not really a fan of after-parties. I was just going to hang out here tonight and relax. I’ve never really understood why anyone would want to go out and party all night after an exhausting game. Anyway, I was going to watch a movie if you would like to join me.”

  Olivia opened her mouth to speak, but Jimmy cut her off. “Oh my God, Olivia we have to stay! Please, please, please.”

  When Greg saw the way Olivia smiled at Jimmy’s enthusiasm, he knew that they were staying.

  “I guess we can stay for one movie,” Olivia said.

  “Great!” Greg replied with a little too much enthusiasm. “I’ve got a pretty large movie selection in the living room. Why don’t you go pick out whatever you want to watch, Jimmy?”

  Jimmy’s face lit up, and he wheeled himself out of the dining room.